Category Archives: National Organizations

20 Dollar Bills, Ya’ll

Karlynon20sAs we continue to celebrate women’s accomplishments and look toward the future of progress and make change, this campaign is trying to make dollars…$20 bills to be exact with the face of a woman from our history…or should I say herstory.

Women on 20’s campaign, founded by Barbara Ortiz Howard, hopes to change the face of the $20 bill by year 2020, ousting Andrew Jackson’s 87-year reign and replacing him with an impactful woman in herstory. More than 150,000 people have cast their ballot in the primary for selecting their top three replacements. This total far surpasses the number of 100,000 to receive a formal response from the White House.

Rosa Parks: Known as the “first lady of civil rights” when she refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. She challenged the current culture of racial segregation in public spaces. Her bravery that ultimately led to her arrest began a Montgomery bus boycott. She was bold. She was insistent. She made change. And though we have a lot to do in the realm of equality in all respects, we’re a helluva lot better for her contributions to herstory.
Clara Barton:  Known as the “angel of the battlefield.” Her steadfastness and willingness to lend a hand on the front lines of the Civil War was jaw dropping then and now. Not to mention, she founded the American Red Cross, an organization the assists millions every year in disaster ridden areas.
Eleanor Roosevelt: This spunky former First Lady made her voice heard beyond her husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s  “Fire Side Chats”— often she didn’t agree with his views. My kind of woman! She used her newspaper column and radio broadcasts to move the civil and women’s rights movements. She also left an imprint on our herstory, as  as an UN delegate drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Some would argue this “First Lady of the World,” in the later years of FDR’s presidential term really ran the oval office.
I also revoted for a fourth deserving woman: Frances Perkins a lesser known name but girl, what an influence she has had on how both men and women (and children) view the working world today. Frances Perkins joined the ranks of FDR’s group of powerful women. Smart man, that FDR.  She served as his four-term labor secretary and was the first member of a presidential cabinet in U.S. herstory. She had a hand in introducing several game changing bills like the Social Security Act, which is under attack by the Republicans in office, and minimum wage, which is also undergoing attack at the federal level after several states have already increased their minimum wage in order to keep up with the ever-rising standard of living. Then there’s also the 40-hour workweek, which simultaneously brought many workers the concept of weekends. And if that wasn’t enough she kept children’s safety in mind by presenting laws — that were passed — opposing child labor. It’s good to have union woman in office who believes in the hard working middle class.
Organizer and spokesperson for the campaign, Susan Ades Stone, a journalist and editor, said the campaign was started to create a reminder to girls, like her daughter, of the significant contributions women made in herstory that would go beyond the herstory books and would infiltrate our daily lives. And to be honest, many of the candidates names at first glance I recognized but struggled to remember their specific contributions to our world as we know it today. Shhhh… don’t tell my high school herstory teacher!
Read more on all the candidates here and cast your ballot! Who do you think deserves to be the face of the $20?! If you’re looking for other’s opinions on who they nominated to appear on the $20 bill, check out the series the NY Times ran earlier this month.
Follow the conversation on twitter by searching the hashtag #Womenon20s.

Happy International Women’s Day—Let’s Make Change!

In case you didn’t know International Women’s Day is today, Sunday March 8, 2015 where the world celebrates females and brings global awareness to women issues.

I wrote about this day two years ago in a positive light and though I still view it as favorable, I want to know what’s being DONE about finding solutions to these issues. How are we preventing the kidnapping of women and selling them like objects into sex trafficking? How are we leveling the financial playing field on the field and in the boardroom? How are we going to make sure our girls grow up to understand that they belong in the engineering, science, government careers just as much as the boys, if not more? WHAT ARE WE DOING TO MAKE EQUALITY A REALITY? And not something that’s just talked about, donated to or rallied upon?

According to the International Women’s Day website, each year 1,000+ International Women’s Day events are uploaded by corporations, women’s groups, schools, governments, charities and individuals from around the world. Only 1,000 recorded? And only about 175 for the U.S. — I find this a bit disappointing.

There are events all over the world that are raising money and growing awareness, but are they lobbying the governments? I’ve been beating myself over the head for several years because I’m not understanding if all this money is being raised and all this awareness is being amplified, why is there little to no change? Maybe one solution: have more women run and become elected officials in government so they can look out for our uteruses’ well being, our pocketbooks stability and our overall safety.

Donating money and heightening awareness is all fine and well, but if corporations, for example, took money they were donating to these women’s rights organizations and instead gave their female employees a raise to catch up to the men in the company, would result in a greater and more instantaneous impact on equality. Just a thought, though I do encourage donating to some of these organizations. And I realize there’s not one solution to answer my eleventy-hundred questions.

However, what I do know is we have to stop attacking those who are using their public clout or “celebrity,” to bring about awareness. We have to stop making it a race issue or religious issue, instead we have to make it about coming together for the sake of equality in all its forms. If we keep attacking the millions who are speaking up, soon enough they’ll get tired of dodging the darts and start shutting up. No thank you, I quite like that people in the public eye are finally speaking out for the betterment of today’s society. We must empower each other and stand together in order to make change.

 

 

Private Parts are Private for a Reason

STOP putting chastity belts onI believe every one is entitled to his/her opinion, moral stances, religious beliefs, the works, but I also believe every one (man and woman) should have full authority of their body and being.

My body has no room for government, employers, or anyone else for that matter putting their nose (or anything else) where it doesn’t belong. After all…my privates — my privacy.

As Roe v. Wade marks its 42nd Anniversary today with hundreds of wonderful activists celebrating at the Supreme court this afternoon, these women and men of the feminism movement are standing strong as the House of Representatives votes on the HR7 bill, or the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act”—a bill that would make it nearly impossible for women to access insurance coverage that includes abortion. I’m proud to be apart of this movement and the steadfast approach to protecting what is rightfully mine, which includes, but is not limited to, whether or not I want to birth and raise a child.
Objections to Roe v. Wade are nothing new. Even 42 years later, states have been putting figurative chastity belts on laws allowing a woman’s right to choose. Some of these overly complex mandates include a mandatory “waiting period” that force women to make regular clinic visits (and spend more money), unnecessary regulations on the facilities that often force those clinics to close their doors, and bans on insurance coverage which increase the out-of-pocket cost of the procedure—many of them, an average women cannot fulfill (because of the ever-present wage gap, another conversation for another day.)

Take action to protect our private parts, they’re private for a reason!  

Now, I know this is a rather radical post here on the Shattered Slipper, but an important one nonetheless. Let’s continue this conversation in the comments.

 

Holidays: Made with Code

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, how lovely are your coded branches.
Ya see, around the extravagant National Tree there are state trees often covered with ornaments made NationalXMasTreeby students, community groups, etc. However, this year I, you, us got to participate in designing an 8 second pattern on our state’s tree through the great gift of tech, through code, and it’s all thanks to Google’s initiative “Made with Code,” who invited girls from across the country to make this season a little brighter by lighting up a holiday tree and sharing it with friends.

I love this idea, encouraging girls to hone their creativity and put into digital coded form. Why? Because today, less than 1% of girls are majoring in computer science. And currently women are under represented in companies, labs, design, boardrooms and organizations that make technology happen.

I myself couldn’t wait to make my 8 seconds of fame on the Virginia state tree that went live December 8 at 8:02p.m. I went to the site and I was actually surprised as I was expecting to see actual lessons for code complete with line breaks and about a gajillion of these </>, but instead there were just drop downs and drag and drops with selections for colors, movement and design. But for youngsters I guess it makes sense to show that by using the building blocks of pattern, color and movement creates a unique final product, digitally.

From me to you, Happy Holidays and have a joyous New Year!

 

A Nobel Prize to Girls Everywhere

I know I know, two posts in one week, especially after being silent for what seems like an eternity! But I could not contain myself any longer! This is a huge day and weekend for the girl world!

Today, Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel Peace Prize for her bravery and ability to triumph suppression and draw attention not just to her experience of being denied an education in her home country of Pakistan, but for all young girls around the globe, who want to go to school to receive the freedom that education provides. Malala came to global attention after the Taliban shot her in the head about 2 years ago, for her resilient efforts to promote educations for girls in Pakistan. After recovery, Malala made it her life’s mission to be the spokeswoman for girls education around the globe. According to the Nobel committee, at 17-years-old, Malala is the youngest peace prize winner, ever. You go Malala! You are no doubt a nobel prize to me and girls everywhere!

The prize was shared with Kailash Satyarthi, 60, of India for his efforts on promoting education for young people while shedding light on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain.

This announcement comes just one day before International Day of the Girl Child this Saturday, October 11 with the theme: Empowering Adolescent Girls: Ending the Cycle of Violence.  Two years ago, the United Nations declared in a resolution that “empowerment and an investment in girls are key in breaking the cycle of discrimination and violence and in promoting and protecting the full and effective enjoyment of their human rights,” from that resolution, International Day of the Girl was born. The purpose of the day (though more like a movement, a “dayvement”?) is to raise awareness and promote causes and issues surrounding girl culture in today’s world from freedom and education to safety and ultimately, equality. Many are taking to social media to share why they’re raising awareness by using the hashtag #dayofthegirl.

Look out for my tweets throughout the day tomorrow!

In conclusion I leave you with some Friday inspiration from Malala herself!

This Girl Scouts for Reality in New Barbie

Girl Scouts Facebook page.

-from Girl Scouts Facebook page.

This week Girl Scouts and Mattel paired up to create a Girl Scout Barbie. Yea I know, for an organization that has been a front-runner, in my opinion, on tackling negative body and self-image and promoting leadership among young girls and teens, I’m struggling to see where this doll fits in their overall mission. But just like everything in today’s world, controversy sells. WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO BE ABOUT DOLLAR SIGNS INSTEAD OF MORALS.

Any who, way back in the day I was a girl scout, first a Brownie then a Junior, and never did my uniform consist of tight fitting pink capris and heeled boots. In fact, the uniforms were so unflattering and ill-fitting that I didn’t even want to wear it half the time. Perhaps girls still don’t? Check out year 1993 on this lovely timeline of Girl Scout uniforms. Do you blame me!?

On Girl Scouts Facebook page the organization commented that “girls and moms alike associate this doll with the outdoors, camping, giving back in your community, and we think that those are really positive message to all of our girls. What do you think?”

I think those are all great messages for our girls, but this doll in no way portrays those messages. I associate this doll with Mall Barbie or even Miss America Barbie, but instead of a state name block-lettered across her sash there are badges of honor, from all the camping and hiking she must have successfully accomplished in her heeled boots without breaking her ankles (kids, don’t try that at home), full face of make-up, and beret fascinator that seemed to stay perfectly positioned on her head of coiffed hair.

These days, the typical 10 year-old girl looks more like she’s 15 (and acts 18) but since when did Junior Girl Scouts (9-11 years-old) look 20? This doll looks more like a Girl Scout Ambassador (15-17 years-old) or troop leader, not a Junior that she portraying with her green sash.

I trolled through the comments on Girl Scout’s Facebook page regarding this monstrosity of a doll, and one mother offered up her 7 year-old girl scout’s opinion, “She doesn’t look like she would really do real girl scout stuff. Like she would just set back and say ‘I don’t want to get dirty.’ But being a real girl scout is about getting dirty and helping your community.”

I will, however, give kudos to the designer for making her racially inconspicuous, thus making her a doll for everyone, which is something that I like to see! I also have to admit that as an only child I used my imagination and played with Barbie dolls often and never felt inferior because I didn’t look like her, didn’t have that dream house with an elevator or that hot corvette she cruised around town from job to job because I could separate a plaything from reality. I think in today’s unlimited access to media and communications makes it harder for young kids to separate (let alone dissect) what’s falsified and what’s reality. Because even adult women have trouble with this reality and try to obtain the impossible which leads to this. With that said, no, I don’t think this doll is bad to play with, though I’d prefer a doll that looked more like a Lammily, even Skipper would do, but I’d like Girl Scout Barbie to more accurately portray the brand of the organization and reflect the average age of the majority of scouts while wearing a true uniform. And maybe feed her a cookie or two?

What’s your opinion of the dolls and the message it’s sending young girls? Would you by this for your sister, daughter, or niece? Let me know in the comments!

This Ain’t No Mad Men Party: Show Women The Money!

showwomenmoneyMad Men, an AMC television show that throws you back to an era of chain smoking, business dealing, and treating women in the workplace, and in general, like they’re less.

Today is Equal Pay day, a day when a woman finally catches up to what a man doing the same job made in 2013. #Truthbombs, ya’ll. This is not a day to be celebrated, but to instead bring awareness to the stereotypes that clench our culture and continuing to infiltrate in our economy. Even when women work full-time, year-round, they still only make 77 percent (on average) of what men in their field make. Over the course of their working lives, women make between $400,000 and $2 million less than they would if they were paid fairly. I’m pretty sure this is a form of robbery.

It’s also a known fact that women have outnumbered men in attending and graduating from higher education institutions. I can verify this since James Madison University was 60 percent female and 40 percent male when I attended, which made the dating scene um…interesting.

Anywho! With that factoid tucked in our belt of knowledge it’s practical to draw the conclusion that more women in the work force have more education and/or equal education as their male colleagues. So if this ain’t no Mad Men party, why don’t we all make the same pay for the same work? Seems logical, given the evidence.

A lot of this discrimination stems from pay-secrecy policies issued by employers that punish employees if they utter a peep about salary. Ridiculous? Absolutely. But right now there is no federal law that broadly prohibits employers from penalizing and even firing employees just for talking about their salaries. At my full-time gig I don’t think there’s a policy in regards to pay, however, culturally it’s simply “not done.” People, in general, are hush hush about money in real dollars and cents, however, many have no problem flaunting their new designer handbag or new revved up ride that just rolled of the showroom floor in all its shiny glory.

I’m not sure if you’re aware of Lilly Ledbetter, she’s a women’s equality activist and back in her years working with Goodyear she was a victim of this discrimination. She worked for Goodyear from 1979-1998 and on her first day she was told to never discuss her pay, and it wasn’t until 10 years after she started working when an anonymous source dropped a letter in her locker that she realized she was being paid 40 percent less than her male colleagues in the same job title. This resulted in a Supreme Court Case (Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.) in the late 2007.

Today many women’s, labor, community groups are pushing a new bill in the Senate called the Paycheck Fairness Act, which will help close the wage gap between women and men working identical jobs and stiffen the penalties for corporations who continue to discriminate. The Paycheck Fairness Act will also be a much-needed update to the 50-year-old Equal Pay Act that was signed during the Kennedy administration.

Please take action and tell your Senator to SHOW ME WOMEN THE MONEY!

Karate Chopping Super Bowl Sexism

#NotBuyingIt app screenshot.

#NotBuyingIt app screenshot.

Social media has proven time and time again that it is a ninja raising awareness, causing chaos or in this instance, karate chopping (hiiiyahh) sexism in advertising.

For the past two years and before the existence of this blog, I would sit every Super Bowl Sunday in my yoga pants and Redskins jersey (yes, I’m aware they haven’t been to the big game since ’91) cross-legged on the couch nomming on mini potato skins (with bacon!), nachos con queso, watching teams of men go at it on the field to be the best in the nation. (Cue testosterone grunt.) And then there are the commercials drawing in the non-football fans to the TV. I think these commercials are always overhyped and in my opinion, pretty terrible and lack of creativity  (except for this one) because they too often degrade women, over sexualize women, and objectify women. For the record: If men were portrayed in these big game ads in similar ways, I would have the same problem. Why? Because “sex sells.” But me and many others are not buying it!
My thought: if the products and services were any good they wouldn’t need sex to sell them, amiright?

How many times did we see that Go Daddy commercial starring the first professional female race car driver, Danica Patrick and had NO CLUE WHAT GO DADDY WAS TRYING TO SELL?!?! This ad created that shock and awe factor I’ve talked about before, a buzz around the commercial that led people to figure out (thanks, Google) what or who Go Daddy is and what he was hiding under all that unnecessary sexism. This ad and many others are prime examples of advertising abuse, or not using advertising for the sake of selling, but for the sake of shocking (and awing).

These ads left a bad taste (and no, it wasn’t the queso) in the mouths of viewers everywhere who took to Twitter to share their disgust and concern by using the hashtag #NotBuyingIt. The #NotBuyingIt campaign, created by The Representation Project, is a movement that uses film and media content to expose injustices created by gender stereotypes and to shift people’s consciousness towards change. Due to the success of the campaign in the 2012 and 2013 Super Bowls an app was launched, which you can download for free from iTunes and upload your own examples in the media and everyday life of how sexism won’t sell.

I’ll be tweeting live during Super Bowl XLVIII using #NotBuyingIt and #MediaWeLike to call out the very worst and best in Super Bowl advertising. Super Bowl isn’t just a spectator sport, join me!

 

 

 

 

It’s Chime for Change!

hp-chimeforchange

Source chimeforchange.org

Education.
Health.
Justice.
For every girl.
For every woman.
Everywhere.

If you know me, you know that I love me some televised musical entertainment in the form of awards shows, music videos, reality TV and benefit concerts from time to time.

And on Sunday night live from the Twickenham Stadium in London the sold out benefit concert Chime for Change aired on NBC featuring the musical stylings of J.Lo, Ellie Goulding, Beyonce, Florence and the Machine, Mary J. Blige, John Legend and many more. Wish I was there! There were also celeb spokespeople: Selma Hayek, Frida Giannini, Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Madonna, Jada Pinkett Smith and others who spoke about specific causes close to their hearts. The concert was televised in 150 countries in 6 continents. Talk about a movement! Heyyo!

Why were they coming together? To raise their (high profile) voices to make a change for every girl and woman all over the world. It’s Chime for Change (I love a good play on words!)

Chime for Change founded by Gucci (yup, you read that right…more on that later), co-founded by Beyonce Knowles, Selma Hayak and Frida Giannini (Gucci designer), is a new global campaign to raise funds and awareness for girls’ and women’s empowerment. The campaign focuses on three key areas: Education, Health and Justice.

Through the crowd-funding organization Catapult, nonprofit organizations post their campaigns, people can then search, find and fund the project that means the most to them. Simple, easy, to the point—I like it.

What I don’t like is the fact is Gucci is the founder of this campaign. They’re using their international brand recognition for the benefit of making change. I get that and I think it’s great. BUT they should probably practice what they preach, amiright? A great first step in this Chime for Change is to change how they objectify women in their print advertisements, to which they have received controversy over in the past. (Exhibit A & Exhibit B) I have to be honest when I say I was super pumped about this televised concert aimed to empower females around the world, but discovering that it was a project of Gucci I pulled back, I was disappointed, which is an understatement. Until…

Jada Pinkett Smith presented the project “Jessica’s Story.” Three years ago Jessica escaped sexual abuse and trafficking, a nightmare that she had lived since she was six years old. She is just one of the hundreds of thousands of children who are sex trafficked in the United States. For Jessica there were not a lot of resourced to turn to as she sought to escape, that’s why today, Jessica is helping other girls break the stigma, empower them and provide them with resources.
Click to watch her story below!

Celebrating International Women’s Day!

Happy International Women's Day to my friends and family for being strong women out to make a difference in the world and giving me the strength and courage to do the same! www.shatterslipper.com

Happy International Women’s Day to my friends and family for being strong women out to make a difference in the world and giving me the strength and courage to do the same! www.shatterslipper.com

Between the Google doodle and the trending hashtags #womensday and #IWD2013 on social media lies this blog post about a day dedicated to women. Happy International Women’s Day, Ladies!
Yes, I realize I’m celebrating a day early but people are already celebrating across the pond!
Some men would argue that everyday is women’s day and they would be half right, however don’t worry men you have your own day too. I digress. In some countries this is an official holiday where the original political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong in honor of women’s causes and achievements politically, economically and culturally. In Russia, for example, men are expected to give flowers to their wives, daughters, sisters and mothers as a way to show appreciation. It’s like Valentine’s Day goes on a date with Mother’s Day escalating to a steamy affair resulting in a Birthday. Soooo, Birthentiner’s Day?

This year’s U.N. theme is “A promise is a promise: time for action to end violence against women.”

Facts & Figures from http://www.un.org/en/events/womensday/

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